Bangladesh bowling coach Courtney Walsh has said that he does not want to 'over-rush' Mustafizur Rahman, who is recovering from an ankle injury, during the tri-series in Ireland as the 23-year old has a big role to play in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.
"Mustafizur has got a big role to play in the World Cup, once he is fit. Fizz hasn't been as sharp since his injury, and he keeps picking up slight niggles. A fully fit Mustafizur can win games for you but we have to have him as fit as possible. We have a bit of time on our side. My concern is that I hope we don't over-rush him, and probably use him too much in Ireland, and he is not fresh for the World Cup," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Walsh, as saying.
"Out of the five, we have three injured -- Fizz, Rubel, and Saifuddin, who have the tennis elbow. We need to get them back into bowling, within the right frame of mind, and be sharp enough to do a bit of bowling in Ireland and be ready for the World Cup. We have Taskin Ahmed, Khaled Ahmed and Shafiul Islam as well [for back-up]. You can probably say that we have them just in case we need them," he added.
Walsh is of the opinion that they will have to act intelligently during the World Cup as the pitches in England are expected to help batsmen.
"There are going to be some good cricket wickets, which are batting-friendly. We have to be intelligent and try to execute well. We have to read the conditions and the surfaces we play. Some places the ball might swing more than others. We have to assess when we get there. Most of the wickets will be docile and flat. We have to work on our variations and execution," he said.
Walsh also put emphasis on the execution of plans as these days everybody is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each other. Therefore, it all comes down to the execution of strategies.
"Everybody studies one another these days, so they know our strengths and weaknesses. Likewise, we also know theirs. So it is about execution on the day, and try to be smart."
Ireland and West Indies are the other two teams in the tri-series which will begin on May 5 and just after two weeks of the conclusion of the series, the premier tournament will commence.
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